How to Stop Procrastinating

Procrastination is something most of us are guilty of at one time or another. Essentially it means avoiding or delaying things that you ought to be doing and instead using the time for less important but more pleasurable things. Eg watching TV with a take-out meal when you should be taking exercise or tackling that mountain of dull but necessary paperwork.

Why do I Procrastinate?

Simply put, we procrastinate because we favor the pleasure of the moment over something less pleasurable that might bring greater pleasure (or avoid displeasure) in the future. (more…)

Seek Experience, Not Perfection

Are you a perfectionist? Do you demand perfection from yourself, from the rest of the world, or both?

Perfectionism has its good side. It drives you to give your best, to constantly aim bigger, better, higher... But the perfectionist is inevitably destined for frustration.

We are flawed beings living in an imperfect universe

Physicists believe the universe itself exists only due to an imbalance of matter and antimatter following the big bang, known as baryon asymmetry. Evolution of species only occurs because of imperfect copying (mutation) from parent to child, ie: without imperfection we'd all still be single-celled amoeba. Great discoveries have occurred by accident (or imperfection), so-called serendipity. Not least the discovery of penicillin, which occurred after biologist Alexander Fleming accidentally left a culture dish open. (more…)

Goal Setting and Achieving

Personal Goal Setting and Planning

Our logical, rational mind tells us we live in a predictable world. We flick the switch, the light comes on; turn the key, the car starts etc etc. But experience tells us life isn’t so simple. What we expect often doesn’t come about, while surprises happen with disturbing frequency. This inherent complexity and seeming randomness begs the question of whether it is ever worth the bother of trying to set goals or plan for the future.

How many of us drift through daily life on autopilot? How much of what we experience is the result of conscious planning or intention, and how much just simply happens? Routine and habit are very comfortable states for the mind in which the subconscious takes control allowing our consciousness to wander freely in aimless chaos. Those that have tried meditation will know how much effort it takes to tame the mental flow of garbage.

Whether you subscribe to the Spiritual view of being incarnate to learn and grow, or the materialist alternative of this life being all there is, spending our existence like a train traveling along fixed tracks is a terrific waste of potential. Despite life’s uncertainties, it follows that a degree of goal setting and planning combined with willful action is essential to make the most of our time on earth. (more…)

Purpose, Goals and Success

Purpose and Goals

Everyone has a purpose in life. For those of a spiritual disposition it might be to serve others, to resolve one’s karma, or simply to amass experience to carry back to the higher realm. For everyone else it might be to leave their mark in some (hopefully positive) way, to do their best for their family, or simple to fill their lives with as much happiness as they can find. Purpose is as unique as the individual.

Our true purpose remains constant throughout our life, but is most commonly expressed through our many and changing goals. It is our goals which motivate and drive our choices and actions and dictate, to some extent at least, our destiny (or the kind of life we experience).

At any one time an individual has goals at various different levels. At the highest level are our major goals. These specify what we want to do with our lives, what we want to achieve. Depending on our stage in life, as well as our unique character, major goals might be to graduate college, own a house, move to ABC, retire with a pension of $X,000 a month… (more…)

Time Management Techniques

The Benefits of Time Management

Despite the relentless march of technological progress many of us are busier and more pressured than ever before. Take the cell phone as an example. Just a few years ago if we were out, we were out of contact, and that was that. Now we’re contactable 24 hours a day, wherever we may be. And, more often that not, that out of hours contact brings yet more to be done.

If you do have too much to do in too little time, be pleased. At least you are special and in demand. It also shows you are living life fully, if not necessarily in the wisest fashion.

A less frequent, and possibly worse, problem is that of not having enough to fill our time. The over-worked and over-stressed may think this is an enviable position to be in, but think again. If we cannot fully utilize our time we begin to question the very reasons for our existence.

Fortunately the ideas of time management can help in both situations. (more…)